Argosy Collegiate Charter School holds open house for 105 incoming sixth-graders

Friday

Aug 22, 2014 at 8:55 PMAug 23, 2014 at 12:06 AM

Michael Gagne Herald News Staff Reporter @HNMikeGagne

FALL RIVER — In just six months, Argosy Collegiate Charter School made the leap.

In February, it was a proposed grades-6-to-12 charter school awaiting approval from the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education that had existed solely on paper and in the minds of its founders and trustees.

Now, it’s a school, with four walls, classrooms, 105 incoming sixth-grade students and a staff of 14 — including founder and executive director Kristen Pavao, a dean of students and a core of eight young and ambitious teachers.

That staff has been readying for Argosy’s opening on Monday as the city’s only new charter school since Atlantis Charter School opened two decades ago. The doors to Argosy’s home in the former Susan Wixon School building on Hamlet Street were opened Wednesday evening, allowing its new families to explore their children’s new academic space.

“Go, explore. Have fun,” said social studies teacher Steven Yates, who greeted families near the building’s entrance and motioned toward a wide corridor, with a glistening new hardwood floor, lined by two rows of lockers and classrooms whose doors were opened wide.

Families were greeted by other teachers and administrators, who smiled as they stood in the hall and near their rooms. Walls bore fresh coats of charcoal gray paint and large whiteboards.

The Wixon building itself, owned by Sherwood Building Co., has undergone a drastic transformation since April, when it was in need of rehabilitation. It had water-damaged floors and walls marred by chipped paint.

There appeared to only be one thing missing from each classroom: teachers' desks. But that was a conscious decision, educators said.

“That’s usually a staple of a classroom. But this is not a place for us to be sitting. We’re going to be actively engaging with students,” math teacher Anthony Baumann said.

And the students’ desks are not desks at all; they’re tables, with two red and black chairs at each table so students can sit in pairs.

“There are going to be a lot of discussions,” Baumann said, so having students sit at the same table “makes it easier for them to turn to each other.”

“I never sit when I’m teaching,” added Shantel Schonour, who an English language arts teacher. Two sets of paperback books sat on each table in her classroom. They were a dictionary and a copy of “Wonder” by children’s book author R.J. Palacio.

Explaining her decision to join Argosy, Schonour said she had been a teacher for 10 years. She said she believes the school’s educational philosophies and her own are aligned. Other teachers expressed similar sentiments.

That philosophy, simply put, is that all students can be scholars and have the ability to excel academically, they said. No matter where students are academically when they arrive as sixth-graders, by the time each of them graduates, they will be ready to enter college, officials said. Teachers promised differentiated instruction to accommodate students’ different learning needs.

Outside Schonour’s classroom, Dean of Students C.J. Ross could be overheard talking to a father and son.

“It’s all about learning,” Ross was saying, to assuage the boy’s apparent nervousness upon entering a new school. “Have an open heart. You have to.”

“I like this school,” said Meghan Klassner, who toured the building with her daughter, Jasmine Torres.

Moses Dunmore said he hopes Argosy is a good fit for his son.

“I’m hoping it will be a different environment that gives him more one-on-one attention. Some students need that closer attention, more focus,” Dunmore said.

In addition to the classrooms, there’s a large refinished multipurpose room that can also be used as a gym. It had rows of chairs, a small stage and an upright piano near the room’s entrance. There, science teacher Nate Fanning spoke with parents and handed out tote bags containing school uniforms.

Fanning, too, spoke optimistically about Argosy’s mission.

“We’ll be able to make an impact with our scholars,” he said.

“What I love about here is learning the philosophy of the mission,” said Cindy Arruda, a parent who spoke with Fanning. She explained she had been an educator previously. “That mission is going to be carried out here.”

Pavao smiled as she walked through the building, greeting families. She summarized her feelings as Argosy prepares to open.

“Just joy, excitement and pride. That summarizes it,” she said. “It’s the culmination of efforts by hardworking people, the board of trustees — on so many levels. This is a big endeavor. Our goals are audacious. It requires great people.”